Musical instrument



June 10 1924; 1,497,289

D. BROWN uUsIcAL nxs'rnuunnr Filed Sept. 16, 1921 *5 Sheets-Sheet 10 2 HI 5 J fa/V d '1 mum, ""Hm. MW

' June 10 1924' D. BROWN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT s "Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 192] 35 flbtoma/ pg aventoz June 10, 1924. 1,497,239 D. BROWN HUS ICAL I NSTRUMENT Fil p'fi- 16. 192) 5 Sheets-Sheet {5 D. BROWN june 10, 1924; 1,491,289

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed Sept. 16, 1921 '5 Sheets-Sheet avwentoz June 10 "1.924.,

1,497,289 D. BROWN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed Spt. 16. 1921 s Sheets-$heet 5 Patented June 10, 1924.

DAVID BROWN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Application filed September 16, 1921.

T aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, DAVID BROWN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the city of New York, in the county of Bronx and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in musical instruments, and more particularly to small wind instruments of the trumpet class.

The main object of the invention is to provide a simple and efiicient mouth-operated musical instrument, for instance in the form of a cornet, having a perforated musical roll that is actuated manually and cooperates with a tracker board so as to control the reeds of a mouth organ or har monica, the latter being concealed within the cornet.-

Another object of the invention is to produce a musical instrument of the character mentioned which is capable of manufacture on a commercial scale, or in other words one which is not so diflicult to make as to be beyond the reasonable costof such a contrivance.

Vith these and other objects in view, which will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the combination, arrange ment and construction of parts hereinafter described, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that many changes may be made in the size and proportion of the several parts and details of construction within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

One of the many possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a musical instrument constructed in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a similar elevation, looking from the other side: Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section. of the instrument, on a larger scale, certain elements being removed in order to more clearly show the interior construction; Fig. 4 is a central vertical section taken through the device on line 4- 1 indicated in Fig. 7 of the drawing; Fig. 5 is a horizontal longi- Serial No. 501,080.

tudinal section taken through the device; Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 7-7 of Fig. at: and Fig. 8 is a front elevation of one of the pawling mechanisms of the instrument.

In the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates the conventional representation of a mouthoperated musical instrument of the trumpet type, on which is mounted a casing 11, havin a cover or lid 12, which is held in closing position by a latch member 13 of any suitable construction. lVithin this casing is mounted a mouth harmonica 1 1, having two rows of metallic reeds, one disposed above the other, theelements of the upper row being denoted by the numerals 15 and those of the lower row by the numerals 16. Vith each reed is associated a chamber 17, having an orifice 18. The orifices are controlled by spring-pressed valves 19, the stems of which swing on a pin 21. The valves have each a lug 22, in contact with a perforated music roll 23. This roll is placed into a cylindrical body 2 1, from which it is led between a tracker board and a keeper 26 into a lower cylindrical member 27. The means for actuating the music roll will be described hereinafter. The keeper 26 is, preferably, made in the form of a small casing, that is hinged at- 28 to the casing 11 and held in abutment with the music roll in any suitable manner, for instance by a pin 29, passing through holes in lugs 30 on the casing 11. The lugs 22 on the valves 19 are adapted to pass through openings 31 in the keeper 26, they being thus concealed from view.

The musical instrument is provided with a mouth piece 32, mounted upon an air pipe The air pipe has a contracted portion 34 adjacent the mouth piece, to give more force to the wind. The air pipe extends into the casing 11 and merges into a distributing chamber 35, which is provided with slots 36 in registering positions with the reeds 15 and 16. The air passes from the chamber past the reeds into the chambers 17, and through the orifices of the latter into the discharge horn 37 of the instrument.

The music sheet is provided with two marginal rows of equi-distantly disposed holes 38, with which mesh two sprockets 39. These sprockets are mounted on a shaft 40, that is rotatably journaled in bearings 40 in the casing 11. With one sprocket are associated two spring-pressed pawls 41, pivoted at 42 to disks 43, said disks being loosely mounted upon the shaft 40. To each disk is pivoted an-actuating bar 44, passing upwards and out through the casing 11. Each bar is provided outside of the casing with a knob 45, giving it the appearance of the ordinary valves of a mouth-operated musical instrument. Around each actuating bar 44 is wound a spring 46, having a tendency to hold the actuating bar in its raised position, shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings. The two actuatin bars 44 are operated alternately, so as to provide an uninterrupted movement of the Sprockets and thus of the music roll.

The operation of this device is as follows: The music roll is placed loosely in the upper cylindrical body 24, is partly unwound, its holes 38 being brought into engagement with the sprocket wheels 39, the free end of the music roll being then passed into the lower cylindrical body 27. The keeper 26 is then shifted into abutment with the music sheet and the'pin 29 set to locking position. By intermittently depressing the knobs the shaft 40 is rotated, the sprocket wheels 39 causing a movement of the roll so as to bring its perforations in registry with the openings in the tracker board, thereby permitting the springs associated with the valves 19 to shift the latter so as to uncover their respective orifices 18 in the chambers 17. The air blown into the pipe 33vibrates those reeds the respective orifices 18 of which have been uncovered, producing sounds and consequently a melody, predetermined by the perforations in the music roll.

It is obvious that, while herein the mechanismhas been shown as applied to a cornet, it may be mounted on other musical instruments just as well without departing from the invention.

What I claim is a 1. A musical instrument comprising a plurality of reed chambers having each an outlet orifice, a valve associated with each orifice, a perforated music roll co-operating directly with said valves, manually operated means for actuating said music roll, a wind-pipe, and a distributingchamber communicating with said wind-pipe disposed outside of said reed chambers and having slots in registering positions with the reeds on said chambers.

2. In a musical instrument according to claim 1, said manually operated means including a rotatable shaft, two sprocket wheels fixed thereto adapted to engage marginal openings in said music roll, two disks loosely mounted on said shaft, a springpressed pawl carried by each disk co-acting with the teeth of one of said sprockets, and two actuating bars slidably mounted on the instrument and pivoted to said disks.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 1st day of July A. D. 1921.

DAVID BROWN. 

